Means for washing lithographic printing surfaces



1,627,774 May 1927- B, J, J. GOULDING MEANS FOR WASHING LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING SURFACES Filed June 5, 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 1 wa tz S.

,May 10,1927,

8. J J; GOI JLDING Mmms FOR WASHING IIIJITHOGRAPHICIPRINTING SURFACES Fildflupe 1924 s Sheets-Sheet 2 Ma 10 1927. f

y 7 B. J. J. GOULDING MEANS FOR WASHING LITHOGRAPHIC PRINTING SURFACES Filgd June 3. 1924 3 Sheets-Sheet 3 Patented May 10, 1927.

nnira srarss PATENT Fries.

BENJAI/IIN JOSEPH JOHN GGULDING; OF ALTRINCI-IAIYI, ENGLAND, ASSIGNOR TO LIND- TYPE AND MACHINERY LIHIITED, OF LGNDGN, ENGLAND, A COMPANY DULY REG- ISTERED UNDER THE LIMITED LIABILITY COlvIIAlIYS ACTS (1862 TO 1900) OF THE BRITISH IMPERIAL PARLIAMENT.

MEANS FOR WASHING LiTHOGRAPHIC PRINTENG SURFACES.

Application filed June 3, 1924, Serial No. 717,488, and in Great Britain June 14, 1923.

This invention relates to means for wash- 7 The present invention has for its object to facilitate the washing'by reducing the manual labour and time occupied by the operation and to enable the said washing to be effected without the necessity of stopping and restarting the machine.

With this object in view, the washing 13 carried out according to the invention by one or more rollers each having an operative surface of an absorbent resilient mate rial, or a plurality of such surfaces, adapted to be brought into contact with the surface to be washed.

The invention contemplates various forms of such rollers, movable towards and away from the printing surfaces and movable relatively to those surfaces while in contact therewith.

Different constructional forms of the in vention are hereinafter described with reference to the accompanying drawings, in which Figure 1 is an end elevation of one form of roller, and Figure 2 a longitudinal section of the same;

Figures 3 and l are views, similar to Figures 1 and 2, roller;

Figures 5 and 6 are partly diagrammatic side and rear elevations of portion of a rotary printing press with one form of the present inventionapplied thereto;

Figure"? is a side elevation 'slnnlar to Figure 5 showing mechanism foryarying the pressure of the washing rollers on the printing plates, and V Figure 8 is a rearelevatlon and Figure 9 a plan of the mechanism illustrated in Figure 7. i

of an alternative form of The form of roller according to the inven tion illustrated in detail in Figures 1 and 2 consists of a plurality of circular sections 1 secured co-axially on a shaft 2, each sect-ion having an operative surface, spaced apart from that of a neighbouring section, of spongy rubber or other absorbent resilient material 3. Only one of such sections is shown in Figure 1, but a view of a complete roller of the construction in question is embodied in Figure 6, in conjunction with associated apparatus to be hereinafter described and in connection with which the operation of this particular form of roller will be made clear.

An alternativeform of roller is shown in Figures 3 and 4. In this case each section l of the roller is" formed with a disc 5 of spongy rubber or other absorbent resilient shaft, the angle being preferably such that a' part ofeach disc overlaps a part of a neighbouring disc.

An application of the present invention to 'a rotary lithographic offset printing press will now be described with particular reference to Figures 5 and 6 of the drawings, in which 6 is the plate cylinder, 7 the transfer cylinder and 8 the printing press frame.

The embodiment of the invention here illusthe rollers 9, 10, are reciprocated axially in respectively opposite directions. For effecting this reciprocation there is provided a.

shaft 16 suitably geared to the driving "secured to the press frame 8. The upstanding arm of the lever 18 engages with an annular groove 21 on the roller 10, and thereby imparts reciprocating motion to that roller. The roller 9 is provided with a similar annular groove 22 which is engaged by one arm 23 of a horizontal lever pivoted 24: in a bracket 26 on the machine frame, whose opposite arm engages in the before-men tioned groove 21 of the roller 10. Hence, through the lever arms 25, 23 the reciprocatory motion of the roller 10 is transmitted to the roller 9 and at the same time reversed in direction.

In connection with the constructional application of the invention just described, a roller or drum 27 is provided for the purpose of supplying plate-washing fluid to the rollers 9, 10, which latter are maintalned in contact with that drum by reason of their bearings 28, 29 (see Figures 7, 8 and 9) being supported on arms 30, 31 independently pivoted about the axis of the drum 27. These arms 30, 31 are connected by links 32, pivoted respectively to arms 34, keyed to and extending on diametrically opposite sides of a shaft 36 mounted In the machine frame. A hand lever 37 is provided by which the shaft- 36 may be rocked so that, through the arms 34, 35 and links 32, 33, the arms 30, 31 may be turned in opposite directions about the axis of the drum 27 and the axes of the rollers 9, 10 consequently moved towards or away from the plate cylinder. It will be understood that, as illus trated in Figure 8, the shaft 36 extends to the opposite side of the machine and that the parts designated by the reference numerals 28 to 35 are duplicated at that side. An adjustable stop 50 is provided to limit the movement of the hand lever 37 in bringing the rollers into contact with the plates. To avoid obscuring other parts in Figures 8 and 9 this stop 50 is indicated only in Figure 7 of the drawings.

The mechanism just described is utilized in carrying out the additional feature of the invention which consists in varying the pres sure of the rollers on the plates during the washing operation. For attaining this re suit, the shaft 36 has secured to it an arm 38 to the free end of which is pivoted a rod 39 guided in bosses 40, ll integral with or secured to the machine frame. The free end of the rod 39 has a roller 12 adapted to bear against one arm of a lever 4-3 which is rocked about a fixed pivot ll by means of a cam 4-5 on a shaft l6 which is suitably geared to the driving mechanism ofthe press. A spring l3 encircling the rod 39 and acting between the boss 6L0 and a fixed washer or collar 49 on the rod, serves both to hold the lever 37 against the stop 50 and to maintain the roller 42 in contact with the lever 43 when the washing rollers are operating, and the pressure of the rollers on the plates is auton a b matically varied by the action of the cam 45 on the lever a3 through the bowl 47 on the latter. To bring the rollers out of contact with the plates, the lever 37 may be moved away from the stop 50 against the action of contact with the cam 45 when that lever not under the influence of the spring 48, and suitable means are provided for locking the lever 37 in the olf position. In the example shown, a depending arm 63 secured to the shaft and having a perforated boss 64- is brought into register with a corresponding boss 65 on the machine frame, and a locking pin 66 is employed to retain it in that position. The off position of the lever may be determined by a stop 67 on the boss 64 coming into contact with a flat on the boss 65. I

The rollers 9, 10, dealt with in the foregoing description are, as previously stated, formed with a plurality of sections as illus trated in Figures 1 and 2. It is to be understood, however, that rollers having oblique discs as illustrated in Figures 3 and l-, or other forms of rollers, may be substituted for or used in conjunction with rollers of that particular construction. For instance, either one or both of the rollers 9, 10 may be of the oblique, disc type, or instead of being formed in separate sections, the absorbent resilient material may extend the whole length of a roller, and the plurality of op erative surfaces provided by grooves or indentations therein. The rollers may, of course, be geared to give the surface speed desired in any particular case, that is to say, a surface speed the same as, or greater or less than that of the plates.

Having described my invention, I declare that what I claim and desire to secure by Letters Patent is 1. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a power-operated plate washing roller formed with a plurality of coaxial spaced sections each having an operative surfaceof an absorbent resilient material, and means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with the surface to be washed.

2. in a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a power-operated plate washing roller constituted by a. plurality of spaced discs, each having an operative surface of an absorbent resilient material, obliquely mounted on a common shaft, and means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with the surface to be washed.

3. in a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a power-operated plate Washing roller con- Fro lib") stituted by a plurality of spaced discs, each having an operative surface of an absorbent resilient material, obliquely mounted on a common shaft so that each disc overlaps a part of a neighboring disc, and means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with the surface to be washed.

4. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a shaft, a series of independent sections distributed along the shaft at spaced distances apart each having an operative surface of an absorbent resilient material, means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with the surface to be washed, and means adapted to reciprocate the shaft axially while the absorbent resilient material is in contact with the surface to be washed. V

In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a shaft, a series of independent sections distributed along the shaft at spaced distances apart each having an operative surface of an absorbent resilient material, means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with the surface to be washed, means adapted to rotate the shaft, and means adapted to reciprocate the shaft axially while the absorbent resilient material is in contact with the surface to be washed.

6. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a shaft, a series of spaced sections thereon each having an operative surface of an absorbent resilient material, means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with the surface to be washed, means adapted to reciprocate the shaft axially while the absorbent resilient material is in contact with the surface to be washed, and means adapted to move the shaft towards and away from the surface to be washed to vary the pressure of said material on that surface.

7. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of a plate-washing roller having an operative surface of absorbent resilient material, means adapted to bring said operative surface into and out of contact with a plate on the plate cylinder, and means adapted to rotate said roller during contact of its operative surface with such plate.

8. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder, of a shaft mounted in said press with. its axis parallel with that of the plate cylinder, a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having an operative surface of absorbent resilient material, means adapted to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with a plate on the plate cylinder, and means adapted to rotate the shaft with such plate, and lever and cam mecha- JUSIITQCIELPJCQCI to reciprocate said shaft axially during its rotation. I

10. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder, of a shaft mounted in said press with its axis parallel with that of the plate cylinder, a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having an operative surf'ace of absorbent resilient material, and

bearin s for the said shaft adjustabie to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder.

11. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder, of a shaft mounted in said press with its axis parallel with that of the plate cylinder, a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having an operative surface of absorbent resilient material, bearings for the said shaft adjustable to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder to bring said operative surfaces into and out p of contact with a plate on the plate cylinder, and means adapted to rotate the shaft together with said operative surfaces during contact of those surfaces with such plate.

12. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder, of a shaft mounted in said press with its axis parallel with that of the plate cylinder, a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having an operative surface of absorbent resilient malzerial, bearings for the said shaft adjustable to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with a'plat-e on the plate cylinder, means adapted to=rotate the shaft during contact of said operative surfaces with such plate, and lever and cam mechanism adapted to reciprocate said shaft axially during its rotation.

13. In a rotary lithographic printing press,

the combination with a plate cylinder, of a c shaft mounted in said press with its axis parallel with that of the plate cylinder, a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having an operative surface of absorbent resilient material, bearings for the said shaft adjustable to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with a plate onthe plate cylinder, and means adapted to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder while maintaining contact of said operative surfaces with said plate.

14. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder, of a shaft mounted in said press with its axis parallel with that of the plate cylinder, a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having. an operative surface of absorbent resilient material, bearings for the said shaft adjustable to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder to bring said operative surfaces into and out of contact with a plate on the plate cylinder, means adapted to move the shaft towards and away from the plate cylinder while maintaining contact of said operative surfaces with said plate, gearing adapted to rotate the shaft during said contact, and lever and cam mechanism adapted to reciprocate said shaft axially during its rotation.

15. In a rotary lithographic printing press, the combination with a plate cylinder of arms angularly movable about the axis of said cylinder, a shaft mounted in said press parallel shaft adjustably mounted on said arms, and a series of spaced sections rigidly mounted on said shaft each having an operative surface of absorbent resilient material adapted to be brought into and out of contact with a plate on the plate cylinder by adjustment of the bearings on the arms.

In testimony whereof I have affixed my signature hereto.

BENJAMIN JOSEPH JOHN GOULDlllG.

i h said axis, bearings for said 

